onsdag 16 november 2016

Things has gotten darker for GSI as Johan Falk has been framed for murder and is being extorted by the Russian mafia to help them. At the same time GSI learns they have a mole in their midst.

Seth and Jack are now open enemies and both crews are desperatly trying their luck on a diamond heist. At the same time has a new player emerged; a Caucasian mob that has its base in an MMA club where they recruit talent ( reminds me of how Mr Han operates in Enter The Dragon but he had a kung fu island instead of a puny club.)

Seth gets involved with a woman he might regret as she might be doing someone elses biddings.

The plot:

This one has an undercover suspense story built into it this time. Niklas ( Alexander Karim) is infiltrating an MMA club run by a Caucasian mob ( the Russian kind of Caucasian) as they are mixed up in the diamond heist. But the heist goes awry and everyone involved , including Niklas, are being holed up on an unknown location as the mob boss wants to find out which of them ratted him out.

Johans wife starts to take an active role in the proceedings, and shit gets serious as brother goes against brother in an all out struggle for control between Seth and Jack

Jibber jabber:

This bring brings back a lot of suspense that I felt Silent Diplomacy lacked, as one of the characters we actually care for is in jeopardy. I´m sorry , but I never really cared for Pernilla in any of the films she was in, She never had a personality to her, but Niklas has developed throughout the course of the series, given some quirky character traits and comes across as a likeable dude. And we learn that he is capable in the mystical ways of Mixed Martial Arts, which brings me to a trope a I highly miss in todays action-cinema: The Kung Fu Cop. I love it!

I miss seeing movies about cops that are well versed in martial arts, cutting the red tape and go straight to the throat punch instead. We used to get a ton of those in the early 90´s starring Cynthia Rothrock, Thomas Ian Griffith and Don "The Dragon " Wilson. All Academy Award-worthy performances, believe me. And Niklas follows a fine tradition of Kung Fu Cops in the newer MMA tradition that Donnie Yen may have started in Flashpoint for instance. I did not expect to see this in a Swedish action film, but I am happy to. The world need more cinematic kung fu cops who can get the job done, one kick to the throat at the time!

We get to see Niklas do some sparring against Seth in the club. Seth does not rat him out, as Niklas also knows who he is, They both know their true identities. It is a Catch 22. They are both informers, and again says a lot about the overall theme of the story of how the real world is more diffuse, harder to grasp on a deeper level than what we are being told in simplified newspaper narratives where there is simply room for black/white points of view.

Later when Niklas is trapped with a few others. , unlike Frank, he is not above above suspicion. We do see early on that he has built up some credibility amongst the crew, but there is still suspicion and therefore has he found himself in this nightmarish situation in which no undercover cops want find themselves in. See The Textbook of Undercover Nightmares, chapter 1, page 9.

This is the type of situation a cop can finds himself into, whereas someone who has had time to build a street rep outside a police force, outside the boundaries and restrictions of procedural police work can do much better. We learn how capable he is in situations which are strainous to say the very least. He keeps his calm and use his wits when he notices perhaps some of the others holed up with him might be easily influenced.

It is nice to see Niklas get some more screentime. Which is a good idea to bring him up, so he can shine in Falkology as well. At first in the very first film of the second season ( see Rules of the game) he is as freshbaked member of GSI we can see how he has problems with Johans methods. Now he finds himself in a position in which he has to take matters in his own hands. We see him as a pro active guy, expert in martial arts, talking to people, feeling them out ,a sense of who they are and such. He should have a spin off series, I feel; Humanistic MMA Cop.

Meanwhile Johan starts to get squeezed by the Russian Mob who wants him to do a few favors for them. Johan starts to act irrationally violent towards them and is using a gun, threatening them to back off his family. It almost seems like his PTSD or whatever he has has gotten to him,

Zooms in on Johan, cut to Helen in the kitchen...

Shot on the family

Zooms in on Johan as whirring internal sounds keep escalating

The internal whirring sound stops suddenly as Helen walks into the frame in the next shot

When Johan comes home to his family after the confrontation we experience his perspective. There is great use of a whirring sound as we finds ourselves in Johans pont of view that is suddenly interrupted as Helen approaches him. We have seen similar techniques employed where we are shut out from the external world to get a sense of Johans isolated position... Once in Executive Protection, when Johan is andering aimlessly around the cemetary all caught up with the consequences of his action, and clueless on what to do next. And in both those sequences, Helen shows up and interrupt his internal state which leads him to actually become pro active again and to start solve the problem at hand.

Helen is crucial to Johan, she is the one person that dragged Johan back into the world and made him a family man again. I think these scenes are quite important to understand Johan, and for understanding Falkology. They are ways for us to get inside Johans head and perhaps glimpses of someone who is used to shut the outside world out from him. But now , more than ever, is in dire need of people to help him.

måndag 14 november 2016

Oversized weapons that could devastate an entire planet, explosions, witty dialogue, some sexual innuendo, upgradable gadgets,groovy soundtracks and high quality animation and voice acting. man I love the Ratchet & Clank videogames and has a guranteed place in The Explodable World of Action as they deliver carnage, mayhem and destruction on a level that makes Rambo look like a pussy.

Too bad this film has none of that.

I mean, it´s not...tahat bad. It is just very very ordinary. And in this climate where Disney/Pixar and Dreamworks deliver high quality animated entertainment , this does not cut it. It needs to be far better to make an impact.This is simply not good enough for a mainstream audience. And not even enough for a fan like me. A shame.

Ratchet is a lombax ( a cat like creature), but also a mechanic who dreams of joining the Galactic Rangers, as his hero Captain Qwark is part of it. Qwark is a narcassistic douche who likes to come across as heroic even though he is not. War is brewing in the galaxy as evil Chairman Drek is destroying planets , since he is evil. And now GalacticRangers are looking for recruits. Ratchet is optimistic of joining the fight. Ratchet also comes across a small robot, a defect from a war robot producing plant who also joins up to combat Drek. And this is basically the plot. It sounds generic. Because it is. It has very little of the wit and charm of the games.

I don´t know. I don´t want to be snarky about it, but Ratchet and Clank- The Movie is the Episode 1 – The Phantom
Menace of Ratchet and Clank videogames. Which means, it is perhaps the worst
possible way to be introduced to what made this series successful in the first
place. It´s not really that bad, it´s just feels like Cutscene-The Movie while
removing the fun, addictive gameplay that made the Ratchet and Clank experience
great.

You should be alarmed by the production history
from what you can learn from Imdb. A lot of talented people was actually
involved with it from time to time, during the ten year process of bringing this franchise to the screen, Edgar Wright and Guillermo Del Toro are two, but left because of “creative differences”, which translates
to; this movie is gonna suck. Creative differences means, they wanted to infuse creativity into the project, but Sony said; No creativity! Obey!

Add to that that they replaced some of the voice actors from the games with Hollywood celebrities and you can smell the cynical attitude
towards maknig this film. Mind you, it is still James Arnold Taylor and David Kaye who voices the main protagonists and they do a great job with what there is to be done.

Also, apparently, some of the scenes in the film are actually cutscenes in the new R&C-game which came out around the same time as the film was released. I mean, that is kind of shocking.

Ratchets character has changed from the game and anything
originally interesting in the dynamic relationship from the original game is
gone. Ratchet was the reluctant hero, and Clank , who wants to do the right
thing, was also incredibly naïve. That dynamic led to some fun bickering
between the two. In this film, they already establishes as friends. And there is no growth to the characters..

In other words, less interesting story telling than the videogame had. Ouch.

I can´t stay mad at this movie for actually existing
and some of the jokes are clever and has some funny timing. But it is weird how
something as originally looking on a Playstation can come out with suc a generic-looking style to it. And why did the non-gaming audience not took a liking to it? The games are great and they stuck to the games pretty damn close. I have a theory.

Ironically, one of the reasons why people does not
seem to care for it, non-gamers I mean, is simply because it looks gamey. The filmmakers did not even bother at least changing the
character models or anything from the games to make it look interesting
for cinema goers. This is the same fifteen year old design in 2016.

This is a case in which they actually stuck too close to the
source material. I´ve heard people say that Ratchet and Clank has a terrible
character design, which is a sentiment I
do not agree with. But this might be a problem as obviously the character design
from the games does not seem to translate as easily to movie goers . When R&C was
new, 15 years ago, it was revolutionary to see such high level of animation and
developed characters with excellent voice acting in a videogame. That has long
been a standard in motion picture history , with great animation and voice
acting stretching back to Snow White And that was 1934.

That is a problem, the design of the characters
belongs to the gamers and not the mainstream audiences with a completely
different point of view in contrast with characters from a newer medium
transitions poorly to a medium that has had many decades to develop and therefor
R&C comes across as not-great in comparisons. I like the characters, but that is because I was there from the start, fifteen years ago. If the animated films had not progressed and delivered so many movies with high quality stories and characters, maybe this one would have made a success. But I don´t think it is an par with say Kung Fu Panda. Not by a mile.. It lacks a distinctiveness, I feel in comparison.

It also does not help that the acton set pieces are not that memorable. The
insane level of destruction and seizure inducing mayhem from the games have
translated into typical space shit, that belongs in Star Wars The Clone Wars or something. Speaking of Episode 1, there is a sequence
reminiscient of that movie; the pod race, of which this is a much worse version
of. It´s like the podrace, without the podrace.

Well, this movie was probably made for fans, which certainly explains why this film was given zero marketing in mainstream media. But even as a fan
I expected more. I expected wittier writing, more devastating action,exploding
cities and more bullet hells. I expected Rambo 3 in space. And got a lamer version
of it.- I got Episode 1- The Phantom Menace level of space action with a sporadic laser blast here and there.. At least that movie has a kick ass kung fu fight at the end that almost redeemed the entire thing in my opinion.. This delivers really nothing satisfying. Ther are some fan service here and there, but I never found them enjoying as the film as a whole is pretty boirng..

I´ll stick to the games and I will most likely never revisit this movie ever again.

tisdag 8 november 2016

This movie opens with a massacre on a Japanese village and in which a woman gets her throat cut. but also some poor kid gets a shuriken in his fucking face .

That is definitely how to set a tone for your Ninja-movie! It is also quite a staple of Ninja movies, in which the hero´s village gets destroyed, a mythical trope well worth using.in these types of movies as we actually are dealing with archetypes and formulas.

This is also asurprisingly bloody and violent effort compared to the other in this Loosely Connected Ninja-franchise made by Cannon.

Sho Kosugi plays a Ninja, named Cho, whose family gets entirely wiped out in Japan, except his precious son. Cho is convinced by his friend Braden ( played by American Asshole #3211) to move to the U.S as apparently it is safer there. Unbeknownst to him, his asshole friend only does it so he can have a nice front to smuggle drugs through. Isn´t that nice?

His friend shows some sweet sneaky cocksucker techniques. So he must be a Ninja. Which he is. He is American just as Cole, which shows he is sneaky. But instead of Seducing Wife-technique, he employs Convincing Cocaine-Smuggler technique, an even harder technique to achieve. Braden is a far more sophisticated Ninja than Cole in my opinion. he just does not simply satisfy himself in bed, but satisfy himself financially.

Cho agrees and setups an art gallery of weird and creepy looking dolls who breaks easily. His son accidentally breaks one of these and finds a suspiciously looking substance. And then all Ninja-hell breaks loose. So to speak.

Flour Power

In this film, the American Ninja is seen through a different lense, He is not the protagonist, but instead the villain. He is seen as someone who is manipulative, but in this film not in any glamourous way, It is almost like if Cannon Group knew they dropped the ball on Enter The Ninja and tried to make it up. The perspective has shifted and lies now with the honorable protagonist Japanese Ninja,Cho, who is desperate in wanting to blend in american society, He is so obsessed in blending in that he yells at his son for being bullied, then fighting back, for actually fighting back. Weird.

The shift is dramatic from Enter The Ninja; now we have an honourable Ninja wanting acceptance within american society. Good for them, It seem like a half assed attempt on the filmmakers part of not trying to demonizing the Japanese, but instead presenting them through positive racist stereotypes instead . Well, it is progress, I guess.

The fights are legit as you now has an accomplished martial artist in the lead instead of that bar brawler Texan from Enter The Ninja. No offence Franco Nero, but you are neither Ninja nor american.

Japanese culture being exploited for greedy american needs is clearly demonstrated here. The villain is trained in japanese mystic culture, but not as well as our Japanese hero, which actually makes this one seem less xenophobic and just plain awkward in its representatuve delivary of values. The film is hamfisted in ways that is clealry shown, Cho is manipulated in some dumb way and we never understand why Braden is such a good friend to Cho, and why Cho believes anything this american ninja asshole says. Especailly after his clan is being murdered.

A more cýnical person like myself, wonders why Cho was never around in the opening scene. Well, after the massacre we see him lurking back together wth Braden, all the Ninjas goes into hiding. The filmmakers do not even bother hiding the fact that the white dude is evil, which makes the argument that Cannon wanted a very different appraoch rom the first one. they wanted a fucking evil American ninja this time.

There are some spectacular setpieces in this. One of them has Ninja climibing a skyscraper, and it is not CGI. It is simply Ninja. Because in the 80´s Ninja could do anything. CGI could do shit.

And the final at the rooftops is a showcase of anything you dreamed of seeing in a genuine Ninja film. I love it.

måndag 7 november 2016

What better way to sheer oneself up by doing a week full of Ninja-movies? Giving yourself a big soothing bath of shurikens. Jusr slip into the bath of sharp metal throwing stars and immerse yourself in the increasing pool of your own blood. Ahhh...

Our first lesson starts with Enter the Ninja from 1981 by schlockfactory Cannon Group, the first in a loosely connected series of ninja-movies, which in all honestly was mostly for monetary reasons, not artistically or for any specific ninja reasons, unless those reasons are hidden deep within the shadows of some Ninja-ass or some bullshit like that.

Anyway, this is one of the earlier ninja-movies that started the trend. A trend that unfortunately has died of, or vanished, like Ninja itself. People today seem to laugh at Ninja. They would be wrong. They can appreciate Ninja, if Ninja is lackey to a supervillain in a superhero. But if Ninja happens to be Super nInja, they think Ninja is funny. Ninja is not funny!! Ninja is immortal. Ninja is powerful. Ninja is sneaky. Ninja will fuck you up, sleep with your wife and leave.

Enter the Ninja is about sucg a Ninja, an american. From Texas. How Ninja can that be? Not very Ninja-sounding to me. But he is Ninja nonetheless. His name is Cole (Franco nero). He graduates from Ninja Academy in Japan and visits his Vietnam warbuddy, helps him out a bit, fucks his wife ,gets him killed and then disappears. That is basically the story. Typical of Texas Ninja to exploit his ninja skills this way. His Seducing Wife-technique is impeccable, employed without higher morals in my opinion. But then again Ninjas are sneaky fucks. Ninjas can seduce your wives. Ninja can fuck them without you even noticing even when you are in bed with your wife.Ninja vanishes. And Ninja makes her pregnant. Such are the horny powers of Ninjitsu

Before all that,it is worth mentioning that while he manages to graduate from Ninja Univeristy in Japan, he makes an enemy. A fellow Ninja, a genuine Japanese Ninja ( Sho Kosugi) who sees this hillbilly Texan as a threat to his culture.

If I was in Sho Kosugis shoes ( Ko-shoes?), I would also be upset with having a Texan coming in and stealing my Ninja-thunder from underneath my feet. I mean what the fuck does a cowboy know about being a Ninja? He´s been here one week and know he totally owned us in our own game? I can sympathize with him.

In between all that, a ruthless businessman wants the land that Cole´s friend has.Why? Because of money. And then when he realizes a Ninja is working against him, he starts yelling "I want my own Ninja" like a spoiled brat, so his lackey will have to go to Japan to interview a few Ninja for the job. And wouldn´t you know it. The enemy of our Texas Ninja gets the job. So you have in the climax a cultural battle between mystical ninjas from the far west and the far east. And as it is an American production the Far west far exceeds the Far East.

Enter The Ninja is definitely the weakest link in Cannons Ninja-trilogy. It is not as legitimately good as a hardcore Ninja-flick as Revenge of the Ninja. And it is not as weird, crazy, borderline-experimental as Ninja 3-The Domination in its ecclectic mix of Ninja, aerobics and exorcism.. But it is preposterous enough in its earnestness so it is worth a watch at least. And to learn a trick or two about the Seducing Wife-technique to create some unexpected and unexplained pregnancies without risking a paternity suit.

lördag 5 november 2016

Hard Target 2 is no Hard Target. By that I mean it is not called Hard Target, but Hard Target 2. That is the first evidence in my chain of reasoning. But it is also directed by Roel Reine, not John Woo. It also stars Scott Adkins, not Jean Claude Van Damme.

It is also not as good as Hard Target. The ultimate proof on the matter. But it is most certainly worth a watch (and a purchase).

Now that we have established that Hard Target 2 is not Hard Target, let us start with Hard Target. An in the end quite compromised artistic vision in many ways. John Woo not being able to be John Woo by Universal Studios.Not enough balletic violence to be blunt about it. But it still managed to have survived as an iconic Van Damme vehicle, known for its excessive mix of martial arts, poetic gunplay action and extreme mullets. But also incorporating a bunch of bitchin doves and some nice visual touches, some stunning slow motion shots and perfect rhytmic editing to match and you have a pretty sweet film.

Great movie. Highly recommended.

Hard Target 2 takes the formula of rich assholes hunting desperate poor people,, switchning locales from vibrant, desolate New Orleans, to not-so-vibrant but still desolate Burma. It still looks cool with all the jungle shit and all. Jean-Claude Van Damme is no longer part of this dangerous game of man vs man. Instead we have 21st Century´s version; Mr Scott Adkins( Undisputed 2-4, Ninja 1-2, Universal Sodlier Day of Reckoning) I´m afraid he has no mullet, but makes it up with a ferocious agility and some deadly legs to kick ass with.

Like previously said, the plot switches the background of poverty in Lousiana, to a more isolated, manfree environment. Surprisingly considerate by these rich assholes,, as there is less chance of collateral damage. Probably also considerate to the restrictions of the budget. It is also a very tired cliche in terms of thematics. But I am cool with it. We don´t get enough jungle action these days.

Adkins plays Baylor, an MMA -fighter, accidentally killing his best friend in the ring, gives up his career and ends upp pugilizing himself for a few bucks in remote locations. That is when the villain of this piece Robert Knepper ( Prison Break) notices his talent and offers a one-match only deal in which he can cash in half a million dollars. Too late he realizes all they want to do is hunt his ass.

Compared to the original, this skips to the point fairly fast, like a good exploitation genre mnovie should. But before we get to teh hunt, we also get to know Baylor through several minor fight sequences in which each one makes him progress through the world of underground fighting. His first fight is in a shitty barn and the last fight before the hunt takes place on some rich assholes rooftop in which Baylor meets the villain.

Besides Robert Knepper, we also have in villainous roles, Temuera Morrison ( Once were Warriors) and Rhona Mitra ( ehhh...) to give the villains at elast some color. Among the hunters is also a douchebag computernerd, claiming himself to be the Mark Zuckerbergs of FPS´s. Jesus, what an ass. There is also a hilariously camp spaniard bullfighter and some dumb hillbillies to round out the villainy.

The film flows along fairly nicely, the action is decent, but the low budget is apparent. They have used some overhead drone shots to give the film more production value, even though it is a bit overused. We don´t need sixty establishing shots of the jungle. But other than that the cinematography is surprisingly nice. The fights could have used some more flair to make it more exciting as there is nothing in the action deppartment that matches Woo´s visceral style from part 1

Roel Reine might not be an auteur, but he is the kind of meat and potatoes-director I can appreciate , as he does not try go beyond his paygrade but delivers a fairly enjoyable sequel with some nice cinematography, like his previous sequel Man with teh Iron Fists 2. He infuses these type of DTV-sequels with a look that makes the film feel a bit more expensive than it really is and as a whole give it a more roudned presentation than most low budget straight to video actioners.

Adkins proves once again his physical abilities in more ways than in just the fights. He gets to run, climb,swim, and jump around a lot and I am convinced he is doing most of it.

It´s no Turkey Shoot or Hard Target. But it is Hard Target 2. And that is good enough.

fredag 4 november 2016

When I reviewed William Kaufmans gritty cop action flick Sinners and Saints I might have been slightly harsh against it. It had a good beat to it and a lot of competent action built into it. Now that I have seen his latest film; Daylight´s End, I am convinced this is a very solid Genre film director we are dealing with who genuinely delivers what is promised. In this case a generic postapocalyptic zombie/vampire action romp. And does it serviceable in a way that is satisfying. I liked it. Also it has Lance Henriksen in a good role.

What is good about it, is that it goes straight to the point. There is no worldbuilding, as we have seen all these scenarios a thousand times and how different can it be? No, it relies on our knowledge of the genre, it does not need to tell us, we can guess what has happened and go with it. The strength of a pure genrefilm lies in it knowing what it has to do. And we don´t need another sappy backstory, we don´t need dialogue that tells us of "thou mankind has fallen" or the struggle of the dormant evil that lies within all of us. Fuck that. I want to see some heads poppin´.

You have the same sort of survivalist group tensions, without sappy melodrama ( The Walking Dead). You have scenes of looting, scavenging and survivalist speeches. You have the Mad Max-protagonist "shell-of-a-man" which is always good to have in one of these and you have that one particular dirtbag who is only out for himself. And you have a trained pilot who can get them out of there if they can find an airplane. Which they do. The best scene in the film is when the aforementioned asshole comes dragging with a car that can only room like three out of the forty of the group. He insists that the pilot comes with him. For him it is every man for himself. And according to him, it´s a shame, you can´t save everyone. Tough shit. And just around the corner comes one of the survivors driving a big ass bus, that can room everyone. Wow. He must feel like a complete prick now!

This has plenty of violence. Although all of it is CGI´d and the generic violence that surrounds the film coukd have benefitted with some some beats of gory details, dispensed properly through out the actionscenes. Like in Dawn of the Dead. That type of visual structure usually gives a higher impact on the viewer. As it is now, you are just over whelmed with generic CGI blood. A shame, the film woudl have benefitted more fro some of those beats, because what is here works phenomenally well.

It has solid acting, decent production values and a lot of action. Highly recommended to genre fans.

torsdag 27 oktober 2016

The adventures of this vertically-challenged version of ex military cop, current drifter Jack Reacher continues. This time it is the 20th Book in the series that is being adapted. Last movie simply named Jack Reacher was adapted from One Shot, which I believe was the 9th in the series. This is what I like about these type of episodic pulp heroes. You can basically sink your teeth into which one you want to as prior knowledge is not needed. That is not to say that there isn´t much of a mythology. Quite the contrary, we get plenty of backstory from Reachers days as a Military Police officer. Some books are dedicated entirely to a specific episode from his past. In Never go back, we learn some of his past, but it sticks to modern day throughout the book, which is the basic template for the franchise.

Some of the more distinguishing features of the appeal of this character might be worth mentioning. Reacher lives a basically a life as a bum/drifter/nomad, He wishes not be bound by materialism or steady relationships, but lives instead as a drifter going from place to place and gets into situations. A variant of the Western hero archetype, who belongs nowhere.

It also gives him a very specific idiosyncrasis to him. and a very specific thought pattern to his lifestyle. His entire life is based around moving on, leaving everything behind. He never bother to wash his clothes, he purchases new ones instead from second hand stores as he has no house he live sin, therefore no wahsing machines( he could use a laundromat, but that mean he need to wander around with spare clothes, which he does not like). All he has is a toothbrush. In one novel , some bad guy who had broken into his motel room stepped on his toothbrush, his only belonging, and Reacher got real upset about it. Pretty funny. Noone else but Reacher would be upset over the loss of a toothbrush, which further illustrates his mannorisms. A lot of people are sometimes weirded out by him, and sometimes it becomes humorous as they try to make sense of his lifestyle. Why deliberatly live as a hobo? Huh...?

I´m not quite sure how this kind of living would even be remotely possible in real life these days. Nomad life is actually frowned upon in our western society and purchasing clothes all the time seems like a false economy in many ways. But Reacher might be a representative from a yearning to be free from all the stuff we allow ourselves to be tied up to (mortgages, loans, cars, houses etc) and in our imagination, for a few hundred pages, allow ourselves to participate in that type of journey. This is what I like about the book and the character. He never moans about his internal state, he actually is living the life as it should be. taking day by day as they come and enjoy life. He can travel across the country just to see if a strange rumour is true to satisfy his curiosity ( usually his curiousity ends up ,curiously enough , in a shitstorm of troubles).

Minor details, like whenever he enters a diner in a book and discovers to his delight as a coffee addict that the diner has a bottomless cup police is a treat in every book. And when in one book he encounters a diner that has shitty service and no refills he gets bummed out. For me these smaller moments are great. Just sitting down and drinking coffee is a time to take a break and enjoy life. Maybe it is just me mellowing in my older days, but I like the diner scenes in the novels. It´s like Twin Peaks whenever Dale Cooper is having coffee; you enjoy it as a viewer just as much as he does.

The plot of Never Go Back is of that Reacher travels to his former military post in Virginia ; the 110th Military Police to meet Susan Turner, whom he only until this point known through phone contact. Upon arrival he finds she has been releaved of command and arrested and as he further investigates Reacher unravels a conspiracy. He also finds he may have a fifteen year old daughter, Samantha, he never knew about. Reacher is also framed for a murder and sees no other option to bust himself and Turner out of prison, find his presumed daughter who may now find herself in harms way as a target for the conspirators. So Reacher, Turner and Samantha begins a quest to prove themselves innocent but also crack the conspiracy wide open.

Unlike previous installment, this is less procedural . The family dynamic between the three characters put the lone wolf Reacher in a position he is not used to be in which makes this one more emotional involving than Jack Reacher.
On the other hand, this feels a lot more audience friendly version of the uncompromisingly detached character that Reacher is in the novels. But he has on occasion in the novels been put in situations in which he may had to reflect on his choice of lifestyle, so it makes sense both in terms of action film narrative and as a companion to the books.

The messy plot of the Lee Childs novel has been more streamlined and actually flows a lot better in my opinion, but some of the weirder stuff has been lost. Like a sequence in which Turner and Reacher randomly comes across a random clan of hillbillys. It was the same kind of weirdness as the guy with a trunk full of rabbits in Thunderbolt and Lightfoot. But there is little weirdness or anything quirky about it. It is mostly a solid thriller. But the relationship between Reacher and his assumed daughter is more developed and engaging and way more thought out than in the book and the family dynamic is sometimes humorous.

Cruise has really grown into the role, (despite that he is quite a lot shorter than Reacher from the novels) and his aging face with more wrinkles and lines, that not only gives him more personality but as a result make him seem more believable as a bad ass these days. I think I am convinced. I fully approve of this version of Reacher.

Director Edward Zwick , unlike Christopher McQuarrie dirctor of Jack Reacher 1, adds little in terms of visual touches or anything memorable except for some cheesy black and white effects added for internal purposes. But this is also the director known for bland films and comfortable "couch dramas". More of a director of Oscar bait material than of low brow genre films of which Jack Reacher most clearly is. But at least he never falls into the trap of non-genre directors of shaking the camera around in the action set pieces. The fights are still as good as in the first film; swift and brutal in execution as they are in the novels, but also clear for the human eye to register and follow the movements. That is good news. I think it is in the drama scenes perhaps, his strengths lies , which slightly elevates this movir from most blockbusters. You like the characters. Zwick alse makes Reacher a bit more vulnerable, but not too much.